Auxiliary ladder leg



May 25 1943- I E. JOHNSON 2,320,144

AUXILIARY LADDER LEG Filed oct. 6, 1942v L l /ff/ .IH-J

Patented May 25, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUXILIARY LADDER LEGEric Johnson, Brodhead, Wis.v v

Application October 6, 1942, Serial No. 461,001

v 2 claims. (creas- 63) This invention relates generally to the class ofladders and scaiolds and pertains particularly to an improved detachableand adjustable foot-piece or leg extension, a principal object of theinvention being to provide such an exten-v sion or foot-piece fforattachment to the lower end of a leg of a ladder or a scaiold support,which may be readily shifted upon the leg for levelling the ladder orscaiold and which may also be vreadily removed for application to'another leg without having to shift the ladder.

Another object of the invention is to provide a detachable leg extensionor foot-piece for a ladder, having a novel clamping unit by which theextension or foot-piece may be easily and quickly secured in adjustedposition or released when desired.

Still another object of the invention is to .provide an adjustable orextensible foot-piece for a ladder leg or for a supporting standard ofscaffolding ln which the clamping means by which the extension orfoot-.piece is secured 'in place-can be entirely disconnected from theladder .leg

or from the standard so as to be conveniently shifted to another workingposition without having to movethe ladder or standard.

The invention will be best `understood' from that the invention is lnotto be considered as limited by the specic illustration or descriptionbut that such illustration and description constitute a preferredembodiment of the invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a View in elevation of the bottom portion of a laddershowing the adjustable or extensible foot-piece constituting the presentinvention.

Figure 2 is a sectional View taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional View taken on the line 3-3 of Figure l.

Figure 4 is a View in perspective of the clamping unit per se.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing the reference character Lgenerally designates a ladder having the usual side pieces or legs liland the intermediate connecting rungs Il.

While the device embodying the present invention has been illustratedupon a leg ol a ladder, it is to be understood that the invention is notto be limited in its use by reason of such illustration as it will bereadily apparent that it f the standard,

may be easily and quickly applied to supporting standards of scaioldsand to other similarfsupports or standards where an extension means maybe of value to level structure supported by which is designed to bepositioned against thev outer side of the ladder leg 'in the mannerillustrated. Adjacent one end of this auxiliary leg there is securedtransversely of the wider face thereof the substantially U-shaped guidebracket I3 which consists of the central bar portion It and theangularly turned spaced parallel legs l5 which are directed away fromthe side of the auxiliary leg I2 to which the bracket is attached so asto receive or embrace the ladder leg lil, as illustra-ted moreparticularly in Figure 2.

Adjacent its opposite en'd Vthe auxiliary 'leg' I2 has secured theretothe clamping unit which is indicated generally by the referencecharacter I6, and which is shown or illustrated in detail in Figure 4.fixed elongated plate I1 which is disposed .transversely of the Wide'fa'ce of.' the legl I2 opposite from'the bracket I3 and: is secured tothe auxil- -`iary leg by'screws I8, orin any other suitable manner, asshown `in Figure 3. As is also shown in this gure, the endsoi the xedclamp plate Il projects beyond the sides of the auxiliary leg I2 andthese extended ends have apertures I il formed therethrough.

The numeral 20 generally designates a U-bolt having the yoke portion 2|and the spaced parallel legs 22. These legs are extended through theopenings I9 of the fixed plate II so that the auxiliary leg is straddledby the U-bolt and the legs 22 of the U-bolt are of suicient length toalso extend entirely across the adjacent ladder leg, as shown in Figure3, and are screwthreaded to receive securing nuts 23.

In spaced parallel relation with the fixed plate Il `is the elongatedshiftable clamp plate 24, one end of which has an aperture 25 to receiveone of the U-bolt legs 22, while the opposite end has a slot 26 formedfrom one side edge so as to facilitate the connection of the said otherend with the other leg 22, as shown in Figure 4. Thus, the shiitableplate 24 functions in -the nature of a latch member to couple the freeends of the legs of the U-bolt together. As will be readily apparent,the plates Il and 24 have the auxiliary leg This clamping `unitcomprises al and the adjacent ladder leg interposed therebetween so thatthe clamp unit forms a collar around these two elements and when thenuts 23 are drawn up upon the legs of the U-bolt the ladder leg andauxiliary leg will be drawn together when the yoke portion 2l of theU-bolt is held against movement with respect to the xed plate I1.

As shown in Figure 3, the yoke portion 2l of the U-bolt is normallyspaced from the plate I1 by means of the eccentric or cam head 21 whichis formed at one end of a lever 28 and eccentrically mounted upon theyoke 2| of the U-bolt. When the lever 28 is shifted to a position whereit is substantially parallel with the auxiliary leg I2 the high point ofthe cam will be interposedbetween the yoke 2| and the fixed plate I 1,thereby shifting the legs of the U-bolt through the apertures I9 of thefixed plate and drawing the plates I'l and 24 together to firmlyfrictionally bind the auxiliary leg or foot and adjacent ladder legtogether. When an adjustment of the auxiliaryleg is to be made upon theladder leg the cam head 21 of the lever is oscillated to removethe highpoint of the cam from between the yoke 2l and the plate I1, therebypermitting the yoke of the U-bolt to,- shift toward the plate I1 andfreeing the frictional contact between the auxiliary leg and adjacentladder leg. Thus the auxiliary leg may be extended longitudinally of theladder leg to the necessary extent to level the ladder.

If it is desired to shift the auxiliary leg to the opposite leg of theladder without having to move the ladder this may be readily done, afterthe binding'clamp 21 is loosened in the manner described, by swingingthe shiftable plate 24 so that the end thereof having they aperture 25therethrough will turn upon the adjacent bolt leg and the other bolt legwill be freed from the slot 26. Thus the auxiliary leg can be taken awayfrom the ladder leg and replaced against the outer side of the oppositeladder leg, the shiftable plate 24 reengaged between the free ends oftheY U-bolt legs and the binding cam returned to' operative position tosecure the auxiliary leg and ladder leg together after the desiredadjustment of the auxiliary leg has been accomplished.

This feature of the device by which the auxiliary leg can be readilyshifted from one side vof the ladder to the other is of particularadvantage when using the device upon an extension ladder because of thefact that such ladder cannot be turned around as in the case of a singleor'one length ladder. Also, as previously described. it can be put on ortaken off without having to lift the ladder leg from the ground.

It will also be obvious that the use of a device of the character hereindescribed upon a ladder leg aords greater safety than is afforded by theusual procedure of building up an extra support under the lower end ofthe ladder leg where the ladder has to be placed upon uneven or slopingground, or with one end upon a step or other structure.

I claim:

1. In a supporting structure such as a ladder, scaffold and the like,having ay supporting standard, an auxiliary leg for attachment to saidstandard, comprising an elongated member designed to be disposed againstone side of the standard, means carried by the member for slidingengagement with the standard forming a guide, and a clamping unit forfrictionally securing the member and standard together against relativemovement, comprising an elongated platef disposed transverselyof oneside of the member remote from the standard and secured to the memberand having ends projecting beyond the adjacent sides of the member, saidprojecting ends having guide apertures, a U-bolt having a yoke portionand spaced parallel legs, said legs being extended through the aperturesof said plate whereby the legs are extended across the member andtheadjacent standard, the yoke being adjacent to and in parallel relationwith the plate, a second plate connected'between the legs of the U-boltand disposed across the side of the standard remote from the member,removable securing means carried by the ends of the U-bolt legs andengagingV against the second plate, a

lever, and an eccentric head oscillatably 'supported upon said yoke andbearing against the first plate, said head functioning, .uponoscillation of the lever in one direction, to draw the member andstandard into rm frictional engagement.

2. In a supporting structure such as a ladder, scaffold andthe like, anauxiliary support as set forth in claim l,v in which thesecond-mentioned plate is engaged at one end with the adjacent bolt legthrough the medium of a slot cut therein whereby the second platefunctions as a shiftable latch by which disconnection of the clampingunit from the standard may be effected.

ERIC JOHNSON.

